- Joined
- 3 July 2009
- Posts
- 28,924
- Reactions
- 26,753
Well apparently the Libs have a Christian faction, it looks as though the Labor Govt has a right and a left wing and some are flexing their muscle. Sounds like a merit based system for ministers, isn't coming yet.
Mark Dreyfus took a phone call on Wednesday night that made it clear he would lose his job within days. The attorney-general was preparing for a Labor caucus meeting on Friday that was meant to celebrate the party’s stunning election victory last weekend. Without warning, he discovered the factional powerbrokers wanted him gone.
Who made the call? Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles told Dreyfus of his fate over the phone about 8.30pm, say Labor sources aware of the timing. It came after days of plotting within the Right faction to decide who would stand or fall in the new ministry.
Marles was the key figure in the caucus changes this week. As leader of the Right in his home state of Victoria, and the most senior figure in the faction at a national level, he was the major force in a convulsion that has shocked some of his colleagues.
Two up, two out. The second casualty was Ed Husic, the industry minister and senior member of the NSW Right. Under Marles, the Victorians demanded more numbers in the ministry to reflect their success at the election. The leaders of the NSW Right, Tony Burke and Chris Bowen, had to deal with this demand. One of their members was on notice.
Labor is famous for the “faceless men” who would dictate terms to leaders, but there were no faceless men this time. The factional push had a leader, Marles, and a group of followers who wanted to get ahead by cutting down ministers.
A former prime minister, Paul Keating, is scathing about the “factional lightweights” who made this happen. In his statement on Thursday night, he pointed out that Albanese has made a series of “captain’s calls” on candidates and positions but, this time, chose not to intervene.
None of this has been about merit. None of it has been about ministerial performance. It has been wholly about factional power. That is the Labor way because the factions run things by the numbers, but MPs are worried that this week’s bloodshed was especially vicious.
Power is shifting within the caucus and the government. The Victorian Right used to be dominated by former leader Bill Shorten, but he has departed. The vacuum left by Adem Somyurek, the former state politician removed in a scandal, has been filled by the Marles group. A key supporter is Stephen Conroy, a former cabinet minister who ran rings around his factional opponents for decades. He has left parliament, but he never leaves politics.
Marles has exerted his power in a way that sends a signal to others in the Right, such as the NSW team of Burke and Bowen or the Queensland faction led by Treasurer Jim Chalmers. The usual practice over the past few years has been to regard Chalmers as heir apparent to Albanese, but this week’s events have changed the game.
Caucus cruelty: How Richard Marles went from defence minister to liquidator in chief
Labor is famous for “faceless men” dictating terms to leaders – but there were no faceless men this week.
Mark Dreyfus took a phone call on Wednesday night that made it clear he would lose his job within days. The attorney-general was preparing for a Labor caucus meeting on Friday that was meant to celebrate the party’s stunning election victory last weekend. Without warning, he discovered the factional powerbrokers wanted him gone.
Who made the call? Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles told Dreyfus of his fate over the phone about 8.30pm, say Labor sources aware of the timing. It came after days of plotting within the Right faction to decide who would stand or fall in the new ministry.
Marles was the key figure in the caucus changes this week. As leader of the Right in his home state of Victoria, and the most senior figure in the faction at a national level, he was the major force in a convulsion that has shocked some of his colleagues.
Two up, two out. The second casualty was Ed Husic, the industry minister and senior member of the NSW Right. Under Marles, the Victorians demanded more numbers in the ministry to reflect their success at the election. The leaders of the NSW Right, Tony Burke and Chris Bowen, had to deal with this demand. One of their members was on notice.
Labor is famous for the “faceless men” who would dictate terms to leaders, but there were no faceless men this time. The factional push had a leader, Marles, and a group of followers who wanted to get ahead by cutting down ministers.
A former prime minister, Paul Keating, is scathing about the “factional lightweights” who made this happen. In his statement on Thursday night, he pointed out that Albanese has made a series of “captain’s calls” on candidates and positions but, this time, chose not to intervene.
None of this has been about merit. None of it has been about ministerial performance. It has been wholly about factional power. That is the Labor way because the factions run things by the numbers, but MPs are worried that this week’s bloodshed was especially vicious.
Power is shifting within the caucus and the government. The Victorian Right used to be dominated by former leader Bill Shorten, but he has departed. The vacuum left by Adem Somyurek, the former state politician removed in a scandal, has been filled by the Marles group. A key supporter is Stephen Conroy, a former cabinet minister who ran rings around his factional opponents for decades. He has left parliament, but he never leaves politics.
Marles has exerted his power in a way that sends a signal to others in the Right, such as the NSW team of Burke and Bowen or the Queensland faction led by Treasurer Jim Chalmers. The usual practice over the past few years has been to regard Chalmers as heir apparent to Albanese, but this week’s events have changed the game.